System and method for identifying damaged sections of a route

ABSTRACT

A method and system for examining velocity differences in a vehicle speed of a vehicle and the angular speed of the axles and/or wheels of the vehicle system traveling along a route to determine if the route is damaged and/or to identify the location of the potentially damaged section of the route. The differences may represent wheel creeps of the vehicle system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.61/879,183, filed 18 Sep. 2013, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

FIELD

Embodiments of the subject matter described herein relate to examiningroutes traveled by vehicles to identify and/or locate damaged sectionsof the route.

BACKGROUND

Routes that are traveled by vehicles may become damaged over time withextended use. For example, tracks on which rail vehicles travel maybecome damaged and/or broken. A variety of known systems are used toexamine rail tracks to identify where the damaged and/or broken portionsof the track are located. For example, some systems use cameras, lasers,and the like, to optically detect breaks and damage to the tracks. Thecameras and lasers may be mounted on the rail vehicles, but the accuracyof the cameras and lasers may be limited by the speed at which the railvehicles move during inspection of the route. As a result, the camerasand lasers may not be able to be used during regular operation (e.g.,travel) of the rail vehicles in revenue service.

Other systems use ultrasonic transducers that are placed at or near thetracks to ultrasonically inspect the tracks. These systems may requirevery slow movement of the transducers relative to the tracks in order todetect damage to the track. When a suspect location is found byultrasonic inspection, a follow-up manual inspection may be required forconfirmation of potential defects using transducers that are manuallypositioned and moved along the track and/or are moved along the track bya relatively slower moving inspection vehicle. Inspections of the trackcan take a considerable amount of time, during which the inspectedsection of the route may be unusable by regular route traffic.

Other systems use wayside devices that send electric signals through thetracks. If the signals are not received by other wayside devices, then acircuit that includes the track is identified as being open and thetrack is considered to be broken. These systems are limited at least inthat the wayside devices are immobile. As a result, the systems may beunable to inspect large spans of track and/or a large number of devicesmust be installed in order to inspect the large spans of track.

Other systems use human inspectors who move along the track to inspectfor broken and/or damaged sections of track. This manual inspection canbe slow and prone to errors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

In an embodiment of the inventive subject matter, a method to identifydamaged sections of a route is provided. The method includes monitoringwheel creeps for plural wheels of a vehicle as the vehicle travels alongthe route, examining the wheel creeps to determine when the wheel creepsexceed a designated, non-zero threshold, determining if the wheel creepsexceed the threshold when the wheels traveled over a common locationalong the route, and identifying a damaged section of the route at thecommon location when the wheel creeps exceed the threshold when thecorresponding wheels traveled over the common location.

In an embodiment, a system (e.g., that identifies damaged sections of aroute) includes a monitoring device configured to determine a firstvelocity difference between a moving speed of a vehicle traveling alonga route and a first rotational speed of a first wheel of the vehicletraveling of the vehicle along the route. The system also includes aroute inspection device configured to identify a damaged section of theroute based at least in part on the first velocity difference of thefirst wheel.

In an embodiment, a method (for identifying damages sections of a routeusing a moving vehicle) includes determining a first velocity differencebetween a moving speed of a vehicle traveling along the route and afirst rotational speed of a first wheel of the vehicle traveling alongthe route. The method also includes identifying a damaged section of theroute based at least in part on the first velocity difference of thefirst wheel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter described herein will be better understood fromreading the following description of non-limiting embodiments, withreference to the attached drawings, wherein below:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a vehicle system;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method for identifying damagedsections of a route using a wheel creep measurement of the vehiclesystem shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a graphical representation of wheel creep measurements fromseveral wheels of the vehicle system shown in FIG. 1 traveling along aroute;

FIG. 4 is a graphical representation of wheel creep measurements fromseveral wheels of the vehicle system shown in FIG. 1 traveling along aroute;

FIG. 5 is a graphical representation of wheel creep measurements fromwheels within the vehicle system shown in FIG. 1 and verticaldisplacement measurements from an accelerometer sensor of the vehiclesystem as the vehicle system travels along a route;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a transportation network of anembodiment; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a control systemof an off-board location, in accordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the inventive subject matter described herein relate toidentifying damaged sections of a route by monitoring differencesbetween the rotational speeds of one or more wheels and moving speeds ofa vehicle system along a route. In one aspect, the damaged sections maybe identified by monitoring changes in wheel creep of the vehicle systemamong several wheels of the vehicle system. The term “vehicle system”can refer to a single vehicle (e.g., a locomotive, an automobile, anoff-highway vehicle that is not designed or permitted for travel onpublic roads, or the like) or a combination of two or more vehicles thatare mechanically coupled with each other to travel along the route(e.g., a vehicle consist such as a rail vehicle consist or train).

Wheel creep for a wheel includes a difference between an angularvelocity of the wheel and a moving velocity of the vehicle system alonga route. Wheel creep can develop when a reduction of friction ortraction between a wheel and the route occurs. A reduction of frictionor traction can occur for numerous reasons, such as when the route hasdebris or other materials on the route (e.g., rain, ice, oil,decomposing leaves, or the like), when the route is damaged (e.g., arail that is broken through an entirety of a cross-section of the rail,a rail that is cracked, engine burn in a rail, etc.), or the like.

Unlike other causes of the traction loss on the route surface, reductionin traction that is caused by damage to the route can affect severalwheels as the different wheels travel over the location in the routethat is damaged. For example, the route damage can create a sudden spikeor abrupt increase in the wheel creep. The angular velocity in thewheels can suddenly and/or temporarily increase as the various wheelstravel over the damaged section while the moving speed (e.g., linearspeed) of the vehicle system along the route does not change or changesrelatively little. Consequently, the wheel creep for a wheel cansuddenly and/or temporarily increase when the wheel travels over thedamaged section of the route. The vehicle system can be configured tomonitor the wheel creep of several wheels of the vehicle system todetermine a damaged route location.

Once a location of the damaged section of the track is identified, thevehicle system may send one or more messages and/or instructions to aremote system (e.g., off board the vehicle system), to a predeterminedlocation within the vehicle system, to one or more other vehiclesystems, or the like. In at least one embodiment, once the one or moremessages are received by the remote system, the remote system maytransmit instructions to the vehicles system or other vehicle systemsuch as a slow order proximate to the damage section of the trackidentified, communicate to other vehicle systems proximate to thedamaged section of the track identified, or the like. Optionally, thetype of instructions sent by the remote system may be based on the typeand/or priority of the vehicle system.

At least one technical effect of various embodiments described hereinmay include the reduction of independent track inspection equipmenttraveling along routes concurrently with one or more vehicle system.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a vehicle system100. The vehicle system 100 may represent a propulsion-generatingvehicle that is capable of generating tractive effort to propel thevehicle system 100 along a route 101. For example, the vehicle system100 may represent a rail vehicle (e.g., a locomotive), anotheroff-highway vehicle (e.g., a vehicle that is not designed or permittedfor travel on public roadways), an automobile, or another type ofvehicle. Optionally, the vehicle system 100 may represent multiplevehicles mechanically connected together. For example, the vehiclesystem 100 may include the vehicle shown in FIG. 1 coupled with one ormore other propulsion-generating vehicles and/or one or morenon-propulsion-generating vehicles (e.g., railcars) for travelingtogether along the route 101, such as in a vehicle consist, rail vehicleconsist, or the like.

The vehicle system 100 includes several components that operate tomonitor velocities of the vehicle system 100 and wheels of the vehiclesystem 100, and/or to monitor the wheel creep of the vehicle in order toidentify and/or confirm damaged sections of the route 101 as the vehiclesystem 100 moves or travels along the route 101. These components maycommunicate with each other via wired and/or wireless connections. Itshould be noted, that the components shown and described in FIG. 1 maybe duplicated and/or included throughout multiple vehicles within thevehicle system 100. For example, each of the components may be withinone or more propulsion-generating vehicles that are mechanically connecttogether to form the vehicle system 100. In another example, each of thecomponents and/or a subset of the components may be within one or morepropulsion-generating or non-propulsion-generating vehicles mechanicallyconnected with each other to form the vehicle system 100.

The vehicle system 100 includes a control system 109. The control system109 controls operations of the vehicle system 100 and may include orrepresent hardware circuits or circuitry that include and/or areconnected with one or more logic based devices, such as one or moreprocessors, microprocessors, controllers, microcontrollers, or otherlogic based devices (and/or associated hardware, circuitry, and/orsoftware stored on a tangible and non-transitory computer readablemedium or memory).

The control system 109 may communicate with a system interface 111. Thesystem interface 111 may include one or more monitors, displays,keyboards, touchscreens, speakers, microphones, a graphical userinterface overlaid on a display, or the like. The control system 109 mayreceive inputted commands from the system interface 111 to controlelectric current supplied to one or more motors 104 (e.g., tractionmotors) of the vehicle system 100. The one or more motors 104 are eachcoupled with axles and/or wheels 102 of the vehicle system 100. Thepowered motors 104 rotate the axles and/or wheels 102 to propel thevehicle system 100 along the route 101.

The system interface 111 may be used by an operator to monitor theoperation of the vehicle system 100 and/or for reporting the detectionof a damaged section of the route 101 by a route inspection device 120.In an embodiment the system interface 111 may be used by an operator toreceive alerts or notifications by an off-board system regarding damagedsections of the route 101.

A location determining device 130 operates to receive signals from oneor more off-board sources that represent locations, moving speeds,and/or headings of the vehicle system 100. For example, the locationdetermining device 130 may include a receiver, antenna 106, andassociated circuitry for receiving wireless signals representative ofthe location, speed, and/or heading of the vehicle system 100. Thesignals may be received from satellites (e.g., global positioning system(GPS) signals transmitted from GPS satellites), from wayside devices,from other vehicle systems, from cellular towers or stations, fromtransponders disposed alongside the route 101, from RFID tags disposedalongside the route 101, or the like. The location determining device130 and/or the control system 109 may determine the location of thevehicle system 100 based from the received signals. Optionally, thelocation determining device 130 may be connected to or in communicationwith a memory device 105 to store the vehicle system 100 locationinformation.

The memory device 105 of the vehicle system 100 may include or representone or more memories (e.g., a tangible and non-transitory computerreadable memory, such as a computer hard drive, EEPROM, ROM, RAM, or thelike) having a table, list, database, or other memory structure used tostore information used in conjunction with performing one or more of themethods described herein.

The vehicle system 100 may include a communication device 140. Thecommunication device 140 may communicate with one or more other vehiclesystems and/or other remote locations that are off-board the vehiclesystem 100. The communication device 140 may include or represent anantenna 107 (along with associated transceiver hardware circuitry and/orsoftware applications) for wirelessly communicating with other vehiclesystems and/or remote locations. Optionally, the communication device140 may communicate via one or more wired connections, such as amultiple unit (MU) cable, a trainline, an electrically controlledpneumatic (ECP) brake line, or the like.

The vehicle system 100 may include one or more angular speed devices 103(e.g., tachometer, Hall Effect sensor system, optical sensor, or thelike). The angular speed devices 103 are configured to measure angularvelocities of the axles and/or wheels 102 as the vehicle system 100 istravelling along the route 101. The angular speed devices 103 maycommunicate the angular velocities of the axles and/or wheels 102 to amonitor device 110. Optionally, the angular speed devices 103 maycommunicate the angular velocities of the axles and/or wheels 102 to thesystem interface 111 to display or notify the operator of the angularvelocity measurements. In an embodiment the angular speed devices 103may communicate the angular velocities of the axles and/or wheels 102 toan off-board system using the communication device 140. The off-boardsystem may be a central dispatch facility, an automated schedulingsystem, an exchange server, or the like.

The vehicle system 100 may include one or more speed sensors, such asspeed meters 112 (e.g. speedometer, tachometer, or the like). The speedmeter 112 are configured to measure a moving velocity of the vehiclesystem 100 as the vehicle system 100 is travelling along the route 101.The speed meter 112 may communicate the moving velocity of the vehiclesystem 100 to the monitor device 110.

In at least one embodiment, the speed meter 112 receives positionalmeasurements from the location determining device 130 (e.g., GPS). Basedon a change in positional measurements over a predetermined time period,the speed meter 112 may determine the moving velocity of the vehiclesystem 100. Optionally, the speed meter 112 and the location device 130may be the same device.

Additionally or alternatively, the speed meter 112 may receive opticaldata corresponding to external from a sensor 150 (e.g., optical sensor)to determine the moving velocity of the vehicle system 100.

The vehicle system 100 may include one or more sensors 150. The sensors150 may be configured to measure the external environment of the vehiclesystem 100 (e.g., optical sensors, thermal sensors, motion detectors,proximity sensors, or the like), physical characteristics of the vehiclesystem 100 (e.g., accelerometers, altimeter, thermocouples, gyroscopes,or the like), or physical characteristics of the route 101 (e.g.,optical monitoring sensor, microphones, acoustic detectors, signalgenerators, or the like).

The vehicle system 100 includes the monitor device 110. The monitordevice 110 determines the wheel creep for one or more wheels 102 of thevehicle system 100. The monitor device 110 may be configured tocalculate the wheel creep by acquiring the angular velocities of theaxles and/or wheels 102 from one or more angular speed devices 103 andthe moving velocity of the vehicle system 100 from the speed meter 112.Once the monitor device 110 determines the wheel creep, the monitordevice 110 may output the wheel creep measurements to a route inspectiondevice 120. Optionally, the monitor device 110 may receive, obtain, oracquire timing details or time stamps corresponding to the angularvelocities of the wheels 102 and the velocity of the vehicle system 100from a timing device 108. Additionally or alternatively, the monitordevice 110 may communicate the wheel creep measurements to the systeminterface 111 to display the wheel creep measurement to the operator.Optionally, the monitor device 110 may output or transmit the wheelcreep measurements to an off-board system by interfacing orcommunicating with the communication device 140.

The vehicle system 100 includes the route inspection device 120. Theroute inspection device 120 may be configured to analyze the output ofthe monitor device 110 (e.g., the wheel creep measurements), the timingdevice 108 (e.g., timing details of the angular velocities, timingdetails of the velocity of the vehicle system 100), and designatednon-zero thresholds to determine locations of potentially damagedsections of the route 101. The route inspection device 120 maycommunicate said locations to the system interface 111 to display anotification to the operator of said potentially damaged sections of theroute 101. In at least one embodiment the route inspection device 120may communicate or transmit said locations to an off-board system (e.g.,a central dispatch facility, a scheduling system, an exchange server fora central database, one or more other vehicle systems, or the like) byinterfacing or communicating with the communication device 140.

Optionally, the route inspection device 120 may output or communicate anotification or alert to the control system 109 of the potentiallydamaged section of the route 101. Upon receipt of said notification, thecontrol system 109 may take precautionary actions such as decreasingvelocity or stopping the vehicle system 100.

Additionally or alternatively, upon receipt of the notification, thecontrol system 109 may instruct the monitor device 110 to measure thewheel creep from additional wheels 102 from the vehicle system 100. Forexample, the monitor device 110 may calculate the wheel creepcorresponding to the wheel 102 a based on measurements from the angularspeed device 103 a and the speed meter 112. Based on the wheel creepmeasurements from the monitor device 112, the route inspection device120 may determine that a location of the route 102 is potentiallydamaged. The route inspection device 120 may output an alert to thecontrol system 109. Upon receipt of the alert, control system 109 mayinstruct the monitor device 110 to measure the will creep for the wheel102 c. In at least one embodiment, the control system 109 may instructthe monitor device 110 to measure the wheel creep from an alternativevehicle (e.g., propulsion-generating vehicle, non-propulsion-generatingvehicle) within the vehicle system 100.

The vehicle system 100 includes the timing device 108. The timing device108 may include or represent hardware circuits or circuitry that includeand/or are connected with one or more logic based devices, such asprocessors, microprocessors, controllers, microcontrollers, or otherlogic based devices (and/or associated hardware, circuitry, and/orsoftware stored on a tangible and non-transitory computer readablemedium or memory). The timing device 108 may interface with severalcomponents or systems within the vehicle system 100 in order tosynchronize or coordinate actions within the vehicle system 100. Thetiming device 108 may be integrated or combined with the control system109. The timing device 108 may interface with the angular speed devices103 to create time stamps or time details for the respective angularvelocity measurements of the axles and/or wheels 102. Further, thetiming device 108 may interface with one or more sensors 150 to assigntiming details or time stamps to the sensor 150 measurements.Additionally, the timing device 108 may interface with the routeinspection device 120.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of amethod 200 to identify damaged or potentially damaged sections of theroute 101. The method 200 may be used to create a software algorithm,package, or system that can be used to direct one or more hardwarecircuits or circuitry to perform the actions described herein. Forexample, the operations of the method 200 may represent actions to beperformed by one or more circuits that include or are connected with oneor more processors, microprocessors, controllers, microcontrollers,Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field-ProgrammableGate Arrays (FPGAs), or other logic-based devices that operate usinginstructions stored on a tangible and non-transitory computer readablemedium (e.g., a computer hard drive, ROM, RAM, EEPROM, flash drive, orthe like), such as software, and/or that operate based on instructionsthat are hardwired into the logic of the. At least one technical effectof one or more methods described herein include the detection and/oridentification of damaged sections or potentially damaged sections of aroute using differences between moving velocity of a vehicle system andangular velocities of wheel in the vehicle system.

One or more methods may (i) determine, using one or more processors, afirst velocity difference between a moving speed of a vehicle travelingalong a route in the first rotational speed of the first wheel of thevehicle traveling along the route, and (ii) identify, using the one ormore processors, a damaged section of the route based at least in parton the first velocity difference of the first wheel.

Additionally or alternatively, one or more methods may (i) monitor wheelcreeps for a plurality of wheels of a vehicle as the vehicle travelsalong a route, (ii) examine the will creeps to determine when the wheelcreeps exceeded designated, non-zero threshold, (iii) determine if thewheel creeps exceeded the threshold when the corresponding wheelstraveled over a common location along the route, and (iv) identify adamaged section of the route at the common location when the will creepsexceed the threshold when the corresponding wheels traveled over thecommon location.

At 201, the moving velocity or speed of the vehicle system is obtained.For example, in the vehicle system 100, the velocity of the vehiclesystem 100 may be measured by the speed meter 112 and/or the locationdetermining device 130.

At 202 the angular velocity of the axles and/or wheels of the vehiclesystem is obtained. For example, in the vehicle system 100, the angularvelocity of one or more axles and/or wheels 102 may be measured by theangular speed device 103 of the vehicle system.

At 203, the velocity of the vehicle and the angular velocity of one ormore axles and/or wheels of the vehicle are compared. As describedabove, the wheel creep may represent a difference between the vehiclevelocity and the angular velocity of the wheel of the vehicle. In thevehicle system 100, the velocity of the vehicle system 100 is measuredby the speed meter 112 and communicated, transmitted, or sent to themonitor device 110. Also, in the vehicle system 100, the angularvelocity measured by the angular speed devices 103 of one or more axlesand/or wheels 102 are communicated, transmitted, or sent to the monitordevice 110. The monitor device 110 of the vehicle system 100 calculatesor compares the vehicle system 100 velocity and angular velocitymeasurements to determine a wheel creep corresponding to the one or moreaxles and/or wheels of the vehicle. Once the wheel creep is determined,the monitor device 110 may output the wheel creep to the routeinspection device and/or the control system 109.

At 204, the wheel creep is compared with a determined, non-zerothreshold. Wheel creep can occur without damage to the route, if amonitoring system measures any wheel creep as a possible damaged sectionof the route the system may create numerous false positives for detectedroute damage. As described above, a damaged section of the route willcause a sudden spike in wheel creep. A non-zero threshold may be used todecrease the possibility of a false positive and increase the likelihoodthe wheel creep is caused by a damaged section of the rail. Upon receiptof the wheel creep measurements from the monitor device 110, the routeinspection device 120 may compare, analyze, or contrast the wheel creepmeasurements with the determined non-zero threshold. The non-zerothreshold may be a predetermined value stored on the memory device 105.Optionally, the determined non-zero threshold may be received by thevehicle system 100 from the operator using the system interface 111.Optionally, the determined non-zero threshold may be received by thevehicle system 100 from an off-board system through the communicationdevice 140.

Optionally, the determined non-zero threshold may be based on a movingor rolling average of the wheel creep measurements from the monitordevice 110. For example, the control system 109 may determine thedetermined non-zero threshold based by averaging the wheel creepmeasurements received from the monitor device 110. The control system109 may dynamically calculate the non-zero threshold once an additionalcreep measurement is received from the monitor device 110. Optionally,the determined non-zero threshold may be a percentage (e.g., fiftypercent, one hundred percent, two hundred percent) above the averagewill creep measurements determined by the control system 109.

Additionally or alternatively, the control system 109 may determine thedetermined non-zero threshold based by averaging the wheel creepmeasurements received by the monitor device 110 based on predeterminedtime periods. For example, the visual system 109 may determine thedetermined non-zero thresholds based by averaging a group of wheel creepmeasurements received from the monitor device 110 at each predeterminedtime period. For each new predetermined time period, the controller 109may replace the determined non-zero threshold with the average wheelcreep measurements from the subsequent group corresponding to the newpredetermined time period.

If the wheel creep is greater than the determined non-zero threshold,then at 210, time stamps are determined for the relative large wheelcreeps. For example, in the vehicle system 100, the timing device 108may output the timing specifications of the angular speed measurementsof the axle and/or wheel and the vehicle system 100 velocitymeasurements to the monitor device 110. Additionally or alternatively,the timing device 108 may output the timing specifications of theangular speed measurements of the axles and/or wheels 102 and the movingvelocity measurement of the vehicle system 100 to the route inspectiondevice 120.

At 211, the time stamps at the relatively large wheel creep is comparedwith a secondary measurement. The secondary measurement may be one ormore wheel creep measurements from respectively one or more wheels ofthe vehicle. Additionally or alternatively, the secondary measurementmay be one or more wheel creep measurements from respectively one ormore wheels of other vehicles within the vehicle system 100 (e.g.,propulsion-generating vehicles, non-propulsion-generating vehicles).Optionally, the secondary measurement may be from a sensor (e.g., anaccelerometer, optical sensor, microphone, acoustic sensor, electricalprobe, or the like) measuring the vehicle or the route as the vehicletravels along the route.

In the vehicle system 100, the route inspection device 120 may receivewheel creep measurements and time stamps from the monitor device 110 forthe wheels 102 a, 102 b, and 102 c. Optionally, the route inspectiondevice 120 may receive a single wheel creep measurement and time stampfrom the monitor device 110 (e.g., corresponding to the wheel 102 a) anda secondary measurement and time stamp from the sensor 150 (e.g.,accelerometer, optical sensor, acoustic sensor, microphone, electricalprobe, or the like). Once the measurements are received, the routeinspection device 120 may compare the measurements at the correspondingtime stamps.

At 212, the method 200 determines whether the time stamps from therelatively large wheel creep and secondary measurement correspond to thesame location. For example, the route inspection device 120 may comparethe location of the relatively large wheel creep and the secondarymeasurement. If the locations are the same, the route inspection device120 may determine that the relatively large wheel creep and secondarymeasurement correspond to the same location.

Optionally, the inspection device 120 may determine that the relativelylarge wheel creep and the secondary measurement correspond to the samelocation if the locations are within a predetermined distance. Forexample, if the distance between the locations are less than adisplacement 115 between the wheels 102. Additionally or alternatively,the route inspection device 120 may determine whether the locations ofthe relatively large wheel creep and the secondary measurement are nearthe same location based on a difference in the time stamps based on theforward velocity of the vehicle system 100 as described below.

At 213, the location is determined where the relatively large wheelcreep occurred on the route. In the vehicle system 100, the routeinspection device 120 may determine the location be comparing the timestamp of the wheel creep with the location of the vehicle system 100stored on the memory device 105 received from the location determiningdevice 130.

At 214, responsive actions are initiated based on the identificationand/or location of possible damaged sections of the route 101. In anembodiment the responsive action may include reporting, communicating,sending, or transmitting to an off-board location (e.g., a centraldispatch facility, a scheduling system, an exchange server for a centraldatabase, one or more other vehicles concurrently traveling on the routeor the like) the location of the damaged section of the route.Additionally or alternatively, the responsive action may be to instructthe off-board location to schedule an inspection of the damaged sectionof the route 101, schedule repair of the damaged section of the route101, modify a schedule of one or more other vehicles, and/or notify theone or more other vehicles of the damaged section of the route 101.

For example, the control system 109 may report the location of thepossibly damaged section of the route 101 to the off-board location. Theoff-board location, in response to the report, may transmit a slow order(e.g., instructing vehicles to reduce speed) at or near the location ofthe possibly damaged section of the route 101, send messages to one ormore other vehicle systems along the same route 101 to investigate orcorroborate the measurements (e.g., perform wheel creep measurements atthe reported location) of the damaged section of the route 101 andreport results to the off-board location, or the like.

Optionally, the responsive action may be for the control system 109 toinstruct or command the vehicle to change velocity after identifying thedamaged section of the route. Optionally, the responsive action may beto report, communicate, or notify the operator of the vehicle regardingthe damaged section of the route after the damaged section has beenidentified.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 3 shows velocity differences300 of the vehicle system 100. The velocity differences 300 (e.g., 300a, 300 b, 300 c) represent differences between the angular velocities ofthree wheels 102 (e.g., 102 a, 102 b, 102 c) of the vehicle system 100and a moving velocity of the vehicle system 100. For example, thevelocity differences 300 may increase when the angular velocity of awheel is greater than or increasing faster than the moving velocity ofthe vehicle system 100 along the route 101. In another example, thevelocity difference 300 may decrease when the angular velocity is closeror approximately the same with the moving velocity of the vehicle system100. The velocity differences 300 are shown alongside horizontal axes304, representative of time, and vertical axes 301 representative of thevalue, magnitude, or percentage of the velocity differences. The vehiclesystem 100 is traveling along the route 101 in the direction of an arrow160 (shown in FIG. 1).

In at least one embodiment, the route inspection device 120 may monitorthe velocity differences of the moving velocity of the vehicle system100 and the angular velocity of the axles and/or wheels 102 to determinewhether the velocity differences are greater than a determined non-zerothreshold 303. The route inspection device 120 may identify threevelocity difference peaks 302 (e.g., 302 a, 302 b, 302 c) that aregreater than the designated non-zero threshold 303 at t₀, t₁, and t₂.

Once identified, the route inspection device 120 may determine whetherthe velocity difference peaks 302 occurred at the same location of theroute 101. The route inspection device 120 may calculate, determine, ormeasure the data provided by the monitor device 110 to determine if thevelocity difference peaks 302 correlate with the times at which thedifferent wheels traveled over the same location of the route 101. Ifthe peaks correlate, then that location may be damaged or broken, whichcan cause the angular velocity of the wheels to increase more than themoving velocity. One or more equations of motion may be used todetermine if the peaks correlate to the same location in the route:

$\begin{matrix}{v = \frac{\Delta\; d}{\Delta\; t}} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu}{\# 1}} \right)\end{matrix}$

For example for Equation #1, may be used by the route inspection device120 to compare a calculated moving velocity with the moving velocitymeasured by the vehicle system 100. In an embodiment, variable ‘v’ mayrepresent the calculated moving velocity of the vehicle system 100.Variable ‘Δd’ represents a measured distance between the wheels 102(e.g., 102 a, 102 b, 102 c) of the vehicle system 100. And variable ‘Δt’represents a measured amount or passage of time between the velocitydifference peaks 302 (e.g., 302 a, 302 b, 302 c). The route inspectiondevice 120 may determine if the difference between the calculated (e.g.,v) and measured moving velocities of the vehicle system 100 is within apredetermined threshold. If the calculated and measured movingvelocities are within the predetermined threshold, the route inspectiondevice 120 may determine that the velocity peaks 302 occurred at thesame location of the route 101 and the route 101 is potentially damagedat said location.Δd=v·Δt  (Equation #2)

For example for Equation #2, may be used by the route inspection device120 to compare a calculated distance between the wheels 102 of thevehicle system 100 with the distance measured by the vehicle system 100.In an embodiment, variable ‘Δd’ may represent a calculated distancebetween the wheels 102 (e.g., 102 a, 102 b, 102 c) of the vehicle system100. Variable ‘v’ may represent a measured moving velocity of thevehicle system 100. And variable ‘Δt’ represents a measured amount orpassage of time between the velocity difference peaks 302 (e.g., 302 a,302 b, 302 c). The route inspection device 120 may determine if thedifference between the calculated (e.g., Δd) and measured distancesbetween the wheels 102 of the vehicle system 100 is within apredetermined threshold. If the calculated and measured distances arewithin the predetermined threshold, the route inspection device 120 maydetermine that the velocity peaks 302 occurred at the same location ofthe route 101 and the route 101 is potentially damaged at said location.

$\begin{matrix}{{\Delta\; t} = \frac{\Delta\; d}{v}} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu}{\# 3}} \right)\end{matrix}$

For example for Equation #3, may be used by the route inspection device120 to compare the amount or passage of time between the velocitydifference peaks 302 (e.g., 302 a, 302 b, 302 c) with the amount of timebetween the velocity difference peaks 302 measured by the vehicle system100. In an embodiment, variable ‘Δt’ may represent the calculated amountor passage of time between the velocity difference peaks 302 (e.g., 302a, 302 b, 302 c). Variable ‘v’ may represent a measured moving velocityof the vehicle system 100. And variable ‘Δd’ represents a measureddistance between the wheels 102 (e.g., 102 a, 102 b, 102 c) of thevehicle system 100. The route inspection device 120 may determine if thedifference between the calculated (e.g., Δt) and measured times betweenthe velocity difference peaks 302 is within a predetermined threshold.If the calculated and measured times are within the predeterminedthreshold, the route inspection device 120 may determine that thevelocity peaks 302 occurred at the same location of the route 101 andthe route 101 is potentially damaged at said location.

To ease the calculations for Equations #1, #2, and/or #3, the routeinspection device 120 may use the velocity difference peak 302 a fromthe wheel 102 a as a reference point for the remaining wheels 102 b and102 c.

For example for Equation #1, the displacement or distance, Δd, may bebetween the wheels 102 a and 102 b represented as a displacement 115 inFIG. 1. The displacement 115, corresponds to a distance that the wheel102 b travels in order to reach the same point of the route 101 thevelocity difference peak 302 a, measured at the wheel 102 a, occurred.The route inspection device 120 may determine time stamps between thewheel creep peaks 302 a at t₀ and 302 b at t₁ resulting in a time delta,Δt, represented as 310 in FIG. 3. The time delta 310 may also representthe amount of time between the velocity difference peaks 302 a and 302b.

The displacement 115 may be a fixed value stored on the memory device105 allowing the route inspection device 120 to determine thedisplacement 115 by merely accessing, reading, or receiving thedisplacement 115 from the memory device 105. Additionally oralternatively, displacement 115 may be entered into the route inspectiondevice 120 by the operator using the system interface 111. Optionally,the route inspection device 120 may receive the displacement 115 afterbeing transmitted from an off-board system (e.g., a central dispatchfacility, a scheduling system, an exchange server for a centraldatabase, or the like) by the communication device 140.

The route inspection device 120 may determine the time delta 310 bycomparing t₀ and t₁ time stamps received by the monitor device 110.Additionally or alternatively, the route inspection device 120 mayreceive, acquire, or access the t₀ and t₁ time stamps through the timingdevice 108. Optionally, the route inspection device 120 may receive,acquire, or access the t₀ and t₁ time stamps through the memory device105.

Once the displacement 115 and the time delta 310 are determined, theroute inspection device 120 may use Equation #1 and divide thedisplacement 115 with the time delta 310 to determine the calculatedvelocity. Once the calculated velocity is determined the routeinspection device 120 will compare the calculated velocity with themoving velocity of the vehicle system 100. If both values are within adetermined non-zero velocity bandwidth, the route inspection device 120may determine the velocity difference peaks 302 a and 302 b occurred atthe same location of the route 101. The determined non-zero velocitybandwidth allows measurement inefficiencies within the vehicle system100 to not affect the result (e.g., electrical signal noise, jitter, orthe like). The route inspection device 120 may calculate severalvelocities using the known distances between the wheels 102 and themeasured time periods between peaks associated with the wheels 102. Ifthe calculated and moving velocities match (e.g., are the same or withina designated range of each other), then the route inspection device 120determines that the peaks occurred when the wheels 102 traveled over thesame location in the route 101 and that this location of the route 101may be damaged. If the calculated and moving velocities do not match(e.g., are not the same or not within the designated range of eachother), then the route inspection device 120 determines that the peaksdid not occur when the wheels 102 traveled over the same location in theroute 101 and that this location of the route 101 may not be damaged.

The route inspection device 120 may access, read, or receive themeasured moving velocity of the vehicle system 100 from the speed meter112 or the location determining device 130. Optionally, the routeinspection device 120 may access, read, or receive the moving velocityof the vehicle system 100 from the monitor device 110 after thecalculation of the velocity differences. Additionally or alternatively,the route inspection device 120 may access, read, or receive the movingvelocity of the vehicle system 100 stored on the memory device 105. Inan embodiment the moving velocity of the vehicle system 100 may beentered into the route inspection device 120 by the operator using thesystem interface 111. Additionally or alternatively, the routeinspection device 120 may receive the moving velocity of the vehiclesystem 100 from a transmission by an off-board system (e.g., a centraldispatch facility, a scheduling system, an exchange server for a centraldatabase, sensors along the route 101, or the like) through thecommunication device 140.

FIG. 4 shows another set of velocity differences 400 of the vehiclesystem 100. The velocity differences 400 (e.g., 400 a, 400 b, 400 c)represent differences between the angular velocities of three wheels 102(e.g., 102 a, 102 b, 102 c) of the vehicle system 100 and a movingvelocity of the vehicle system 100. The velocity differences 400 areshown alongside horizontal axes 404, representative of time, andvertical axes 401 representative of the value, magnitude, or percentageof the velocity differences. The vehicle system 100 is traveling alongthe route 101 in the direction of the arrow 160 (shown in FIG. 1).

FIG. 4 shows velocity differences 400 of which the route inspectiondevice 120 may determine that the route 101 is not potentially damaged.For example, the route inspection device 120 may use Equation #3 todetermine a calculated time delta 420 in order to verify or determinewhether velocity difference peaks 402 a and 402 b occurred at the samelocation of the route 101. The measured time delta 410 corresponds tothe difference in time stamps, t₃ and t₄, between velocity differencepeaks 402 a and 402 b. Since the calculated time delta 420 is less thanthe measured time delta 410, the route inspection device 120 maydetermine that the velocity difference peaks 402 a and 402 b did notoccur at the same location of the route 101. Additionally oralternatively, the route inspection device 120 may use the designatednon-zero threshold 403 to determine the velocity difference peak 402 cwas not caused by a potentially damaged section of the route 101.

Optionally, the route inspection device 120 may verify, authenticate, orcertify a damaged section of the route 101 by comparing the velocitydifferences with measurements from the sensor 150 (e.g., accelerometer,optical sensor, acoustic sensor, microphone, electrical probe, or thelike). FIG. 5 shows a set of velocity differences and sensor output 500of the vehicle system 100. Optionally, the sensor 150 may comprise anaccelerometer to measure a vertical displacement of the vehicle system100. The velocity differences and sensor output 500 contains two graphs(510 and 511) representing differences between the angular velocities oftwo wheels 102 (e.g., 102 a, 102 b) in the vehicle system 100, andmoving velocities of the vehicle system 100. The velocity differencesand sensor output 500 contains a sensor output 520 of the sensor 150.The velocity differences and sensor output 500 are shown alongsidehorizontal axes 504 representative of time and vertical axes 501representative of the value, magnitude, or percentage of the velocitydifferences and a separate vertical axis 506 representative of distanceor displacement.

The route inspection device 120 may use the sensor output measurement520 in conjunction with one or both of the velocity differencemeasurements 510 and/or 511 to confirm a measurement or determination ofthe route inspection device 120 of a damaged section of the route 101.For example, the route inspection device 120 may determine the timestamps corresponding to velocity differences caused by the damagedsection of the route 101 by comparing the velocity differences to adetermined non-zero threshold 503. The velocity difference measurements510 and 511 have three velocity difference peaks 502 (e.g., 502 a, 502b, 502 c) greater than the determined non-zero threshold 503. Thevelocity difference peaks 502 occur at time stamps, t₀, t₁, and t₂. Theroute inspection device 120 may compare the velocity difference peaks502 (e.g., 502 a, 502 b, 502 c) to any variations, changes, peaks, ordeviations of the sensor output 520 at the corresponding time stamp.

To determine such variations in the sensor output 520 the routeinspection device 120 may apply a determined non-zero sensor bandwidth522. Optionally, the determined non-zero sensor bandwidth 522 is a rangeof limits updated by a rolling average value 521 of the sensor output520. The route inspection device 120 may determine that any sensoroutput 520 outside the determined non-zero sensor bandwidth 522corresponds to a damaged section of the route 101. Additionally oralternatively, the route inspection device 120 may measure an extremerate change or slope to correspond to the damaged section of the route101. The sensor output 520 shows two bottom measurements 507 (e.g., 507a, 507 b) outside the determined non-zero sensor bandwidth 522 occurringat t₀ and t₁. The route inspection device 120 may use the two bottommeasurements 507 (e.g., 507 a, 507 b) to verify that the wheel creeppeaks 502 (e.g., 502 a, 502 b) correspond to a damaged section of theroute 101. Additionally or alternatively, the route inspection device120 may determine the bottom measurement 507 (e.g., 507 c) is within thedetermined non-zero sensor bandwidth 522. The route inspection device120 may then conclude the wheel creep peak 502 at t2 (e.g., 502 c)corresponding to the bottom measurement 507 c is likely a false positiveand does not represent a damaged section of the route 101.

Additionally or alternatively, the route inspection device 120 may use adetermined non-zero acceleration threshold. Wherein the route inspectiondevice 120 may only determine whether a section of the route 101 isdamaged when an acceleration of the vehicle system 101 is below thedetermined non-zero acceleration threshold. The acceleration of thevehicle system 101 may be measured by the speed meter 112. Optionally,the acceleration of the vehicle system 101 may be measured by thelocation determining device 130.

In at least one embodiment, the route inspection device 120 may use thesensor 150 (e.g., accelerometer, optical sensors, gyroscope, or thelike) to determine whether the damaged section of the route 101 is anengine burn segment. Engine burn is a progressive fracture in a railthat originates at spots where the wheels have slipped or spun. Adamaged section of the rail may cause a rapid change in the verticaldisplacement of the vehicle system 100. The route inspection 120 may usethe sensor 150 to determine if the potentially damaged section of theroute 101 caused a change in the vertical displacement of the vehiclesystem 100.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of a transportation network 611traveled by one or more vehicle systems 600 (e.g., the same as orsimilar to the vehicle system 100 described above). The transportationnetwork 611 includes a plurality of interconnected routes 604, such asrailroad tracks, roads, or other paths across which the vehicle system600 travels. The routes 604 may be referred to as main line routes whenthe routes 604 provide paths for the vehicle systems 600 to travel alongin order to travel between a starting location and a destinationlocation (and/or to one or more intermediate locations between thestarting location and the destination location). The transportationnetwork 611 may extend over a relatively large area, such as hundreds ofsquare miles or kilometers of area. While only one transportationnetwork 611 is shown in FIG. 6, one or more other transportationnetworks 611 may be joined with and accessible to vehicles traveling inthe illustrated transportation network 611. For example, one or more ofthe routes 604 may extend to another transportation network 611 suchthat vehicles can travel between the transportation networks 611.

Different transportation networks 100 may be defined by differentgeographic boundaries, such as different towns, cities, counties,states, groups of states, countries, continents, or the like. The numberof routes 604 shown in FIG. 6 is meant to be illustrative and notlimiting on embodiments of the described subject matter. The vehiclesystems 600 may concurrently travel within the transportation network611 along the same or different routes 604. Travel of one or morevehicle systems 600 may be constrained to travel within thetransportation network 611. Alternatively, one or more of the vehiclesystems 600 may enter the transportation network 611 from anothertransportation network or leave the transportation network 611 to travelinto another transportation network.

The vehicle systems 600 (e.g., 600 a, 600 b, 600 c) are shown with oneor more propulsion-generating vehicles 620 and/or one or morenon-propulsion-generating vehicles 622. The vehicle systems 600 may beformed by mechanically coupling or linking together one or more of thepropulsion-generating vehicles 620 and/or one or morenon-propulsion-generating vehicles 622. It should be noted, that one ormore of the vehicles (e.g., propulsion-generating vehicles 620,non-propulsion-generating vehicles 622) may include one or more of thecomponents described above for the vehicle system 100.

The vehicle system 600 may be configured to communicate information ofan identified location of a damaged section 602 of the route 604 onwhich the vehicle system 600 travels to one or more off-board locations,such as to a dispatch facility 606, and/or to one or more other vehiclesystems 600 that are traveling along the route or that may travel alongthe route sometime in the future. For example, the vehicle system 600 ahas located a damaged section 602 of the route 604 using one or more ofthe methods described above. The vehicle system 600 a transmits theidentified location of the damage section 602 the dispatch facility 606,and to the vehicle systems 600 b and 600 c. It should be noted that thetransportation network 611 may include one or more off-board locations(e.g., central dispatch facilities, exchange servers for a centraldatabase, a plurality of dispatch facilities, or the like).

Additionally or alternatively, the off-board location (e.g., thedispatch facility 606) may include a control system 712 (e.g., anoff-board vehicle control and/or scheduling system, an off-board routeinspection coordination control system, or the like). The control system712 may comprise a communication unit 714, a control unit 716, and amemory device 718. The communication unit 714 and the memory device 718are operably electrically coupled to the controller unit 716. Thecontrol system 712

The communication unit 714 may be configured to transmit and receiveelectronic communications from one or more vehicle systems 600, otheroff-board locations (e.g., other dispatch facilities 606), othertransportation networks 611, or the like. The communication unit may beconfigured to transmit and receive electronic communications using awired communication channel (e.g., electrical cables) and/or a wirelesscommunication channel (e.g., one or more radio channels). For example,the communication unit 714 may be a data radio, other radio, a devicethat communicates using satellite or cellular wireless channels, or thelike. Alternatively or additionally, the communication unit 714 may beconfigured to communicate with rail vehicles over a catenary line, thirdrail, track, or the like that are in electrical contact with the railvehicles.

The control unit 716 controls or manages operations of the system 712and may include or represent hardware circuits or circuitry that includeand/or are connected with one or more logic based devices, such as oneor more processors, microprocessors, controllers, microcontrollers, orother logic based devices (and/or associated hardware, circuitry, and/orsoftware stored on a tangible and non-transitory computer readablemedium or memory). The control unit 716 is configured to control thecommunication unit 614 for communicating with vehicle systems 600travelling within the transportation network 611.

The memory device 718 of the system 712 may include or represent one ormore memories (e.g., a tangible and non-transitory computer readablememory, such as a computer hard drive, EEPROM, ROM, RAM, or the like)having a table, list, database, or other memory structure used to storeinformation used in conjunction with performing one or more of themethods described herein.

In at least one embodiment, the system 712 is configured to communicate(e.g., automatically communicate) one or more control signals (e.g.,instructions) to one or more of the vehicle systems 600 responsive toreceiving information of the location of a damaged section of route 604.The one or more control signals may comprise a slow order that requiresthe one or more vehicles to travel no faster than a designated speed,which may be a speed that is slower than a designated speed limit ortrip plan at the location when no slow orders are in effect. Forexample, the vehicle system 600 may be configured to operate accordingto the slow order only when the vehicle systems 600 reach and/or arewithin a designated distance threshold of the location (e.g., when avehicle system is one kilometer from the location) the vehicle operatesaccording to the slow order. The control signals be store on the memory718.

The system 712 may be configured to determine which vehicle system 600(e.g., 600 a, 600 b, 600 c) to communicate the signal(s) to (suchvehicle system 600 being a subset of fewer than all of the vehiclesystems 600 within the transportation network 611). For example, thesystem 712 may determine which vehicle systems 600 to communicate withbased at least in part on which vehicle systems 600 areplanned/scheduled to travel past the identified location (e.g., thedamaged section 602) along the route 604.

Alternatively or additionally, the one or more control signals maycomprise inspection control signals. The inspection control signals maybe used to control the vehicle system(s) 600 (which the inspectioncontrol signals are communicated to) to enter into one or more modes ofoperation for inspecting the identified location (e.g., damaged section602) of the route 604. For example, the system 712 may have receivedelectronic communication from vehicle system 600 a identifying thedamaged section 602 of the route 604. The memory device 718 have includea vehicle system database of the vehicle systems 600 within thetransportation network 611 or in communication with the system 712. Thevehicle system database may include information on which vehicle system600 will be travelling through the damaged section 602. Based on thevehicle system database, the system 712 communicates the inspectioncontrol signal to the vehicle system 600 b, which is scheduled tosubsequently (after the vehicle system 600 a) travel over or past thedamaged section 602. Once the inspection control signal is received bythe vehicle system 600 b, the control system (e.g., the control system109) of the vehicle system 600 b may configure the vehicle system 600 bto enter a mode of operation based on the received inspection signal.For example, the vehicle system 600 b may be configured to slow down orspeed up (as applicable based on a current moving velocity of thevehicle system 600 b) to the speed of travel over the route 604 that isdesignated for carrying out wheel creep detection as described herein.

Alternatively or additionally, if a vehicle system 600 is outfitted withone or more inspection systems for inspecting routes other than (or inaddition to) through wheel creep detection (e.g., video inspection), seebelow, the vehicle may be configured to enter a mode of operation basedon the received inspection control signals for activating the inspectionsystem(s) ahead of, or at, the damaged section for 602.

The system 712 may be configured to communicate the control signals(e.g., select which vehicle systems 600 to communicate the controlsignals to, and/or select which control signals to communicate, and/orconfigure the control signals that are to be communicated) based on oneor more current operating modes of the vehicle systems 600, schedules ofthe vehicle systems 600, operational designations of the vehicle systems600 (e.g., “express” vehicles, relative priority level, or the like),current or projected route 604 conditions, or the like.

For example, the vehicle system 600 a is assigned a trip plan thatdesignates a designated schedule of the vehicle system 600 a (e.g., timeof departure, time of arrival). If the vehicle system 600 a is operatingbehind the designated schedule of the vehicle (i.e., not operating ontime) at a time when it reaches the damaged section 602, and/or if thevehicle system 600 a is operating as a designated “express” vehicle(e.g., the vehicle system 600 a has priority of speed and/or travelrelative to other vehicle systems 600 (e.g., 600 b, 600 c)), and/or ifslowing the vehicle system 600 a to a particular level of speed wouldinterfere with subsequent vehicle systems 600 to an extent above adesignated tolerance threshold (e.g., causing the subsequent vehicle tofall “N” minutes behind schedule is permissible, but not “M” minutes,where “M” and “N” are designated numerical values and M is greater thanN), the system 712 may be configured to communicate control signals tothe vehicle system 600 a responsive to which the vehicle system 600 atravels no faster than a designated “slow order” speed past the damagessection 602, but does not decelerate to a speed, slower than the sloworder speed, to secondarily inspect the route 604 at the damaged section602 and communicate inspection information back to the system for 712.

In another example, if a vehicle system 600 lacks an on-board system forroute inspection, the system 712 may be configured, based on knowledgeof the vehicle system 600 configuration stored on the memory device 718,to communicate control signals to the vehicle system 600 responsive towhich the vehicle system 600 travels no faster than a designated sloworder speed past the damaged section 602, but does not decelerate to aspeed, slower than the slow order speed, to secondarily inspect theroute at the damaged section 602 and communicate inspection informationback to the system 712. Conversely, if a vehicle system 600 includes anon-board inspection system, is not behind schedule, and is not operatingin a designated priority or express mode, the system 712 may beconfigured to communicate control signals to the vehicle system 600responsive to which the vehicle system 600 decelerates to a designatedspeed or speed range for carrying out a secondary route inspection.

In at least one embodiment, the system 612 may be configured to generateand communicate control signals to vehicle systems 600, or to take otheractions (e.g., adjust the trip plan of one or more of the vehiclesystems 600) based on information of a location received from multiplevehicle systems 600 (e.g., 600 a, 600 b, 600 c) over time and/or fromthe same vehicle system 600 passing over or past the damaged sections602 in multiple instances. For example, the system 612 may be configuredto generate control signals for issuing a slow order (responsive towhich vehicle systems 600 to which the signals are communicated totravel no more than a designated speed) at the damaged section 602, orcontrol signals responsive to which a vehicle system 600 slows to carryout a secondary route inspection at the damaged section 602, or controlsignals to schedule route repair or manual inspection or the like, onlyif route damage at the damaged section 602 has been identified two ormore times (e.g., twice by the same vehicle system 600 at differenttimes, or twice by two vehicle systems 600 at different times).

Although embodiments are illustrated herein relating to vehicle systems600 being configured to identify damaged sections (e.g., the damagedsection 602) of the route 602 based on determined wheel creep or thelike, the system 612 may be configured to operate (as described above)based on locations of damaged sections 602 of the route 604 that areidentified by vehicle systems 600 using other means, such as electricalinspection (e.g., identifying route damage by analyzing electricalsignals propagated through a track), video inspection (e.g., identifyingroute damage by analyzing video images sensed of a track, trackvicinity, or other route), light inspection (e.g., identifying routedamage by analyzing reflected laser light emitted towards a rail orother route), or the like.

In one example of the inventive subject matter, a method includesdetermining, using one or more processors, a first velocity differencebetween a moving speed of a vehicle traveling along a route 101 in thefirst rotational speed of the first wheel (e.g. the wheel 102) of thevehicle traveling along the route 101. The method includes identifying,using the one or more processors, a damaged section of the route 101based at least in part on the first velocity difference the first wheel.

In one aspect, the method may further include determining, using the oneor more processors, at least a second velocity difference between themoving speed of the vehicle and at least a second rotational speed of atleast a second wheel (e.g., the wheel 102) of the vehicle. The damagedsection of the route 101 is identified based at least in part on thefirst velocity difference and the at least a second velocity difference.Optionally, the damage section of the method is identified bycorrelating times of when each of the first velocity difference in theat least a second velocity difference occurs with the moving speed ofthe vehicle. Optionally, the vehicle of the method may comprise a railvehicle having a first traction motor that rotates the first wheel andat least a second traction motor that rotates the at least a secondwheel.

In one aspect, the first velocity difference of the method is a wheelcreep of the first wheel.

In one aspect, the damaged section of the route 101 is identified by themethod in response to the first velocity difference exceeding adesignated, non-zero threshold.

In one aspect, the first velocity difference is only determined by themethod when an acceleration of the vehicle is less than a designated,non-zero acceleration threshold.

In one aspect, the method includes verifying, using the one or moreprocessors, identification of the damage section of the route 101 usingdata other than the first velocity difference. Optionally, theidentification of the damage section of the route 101 is verified by atleast one of monitoring vertical displacement of the vehicle, andoptical monitoring system disposed on board the vehicle, injecting alogical signal into the route 101 at a first location on the vehicle onone side of the damaged section in measuring one or more electricalcharacteristics of the route 101 and a second location along the vehicleon an opposite side of the damage section, or acoustically detecting oneor more residual sounds using an acoustic pickup device disposed onboard the vehicle.

For example, the damaged section of the route 101 is verified by theroute inspection device 120 by comparing an electrical signal injectedby the sensor 150 into the route 101 at a first location along thevehicle system 100 on one side of the damaged section and measuring oneor more electrical characteristics of the route 101 at a second locationalong the vehicle system 100 on an opposite side of the damaged section.

In another example, the damaged section of the route 101 is verified bythe route inspection device 120 by detecting an acoustical signaltransmitted by the sensor 150 for one or more residual sounds using anacoustic pickup device disposed onboard the vehicle. The one or moreresidual sounds may be residual noises that occur during travel andoperation of the vehicle system 100. The residual sounds may be createdby the movement of the wheels 102 of the vehicle system 100 along theroute 101 (e.g., rails of a track, road, ground, or the like), operationof a prime mover (e.g., engine and/or generator/alternator) of thevehicle system 100, operation of the motor 104 of the vehicle system100, or the like.

In one aspect, the method may include determining, using the one or moreprocessors, a location in the damage section of the route 101 andreporting a location of the damage section to an off-board location(e.g., a central dispatch facility, a scheduling system, an exchangeserver for a central database, or the like). Optionally the off-boardlocation comprises a dispatch facility, and reporting the location ofthe damage section comprises instructions to the dispatch facility to atleast one of schedule inspection of the damaged section of the round101, schedule repair the damage section of Route 101, modify a scheduleof one or more other vehicles, or notify the one or more other vehiclesof the damage section of the route 101. Optionally, the reporting of thelocation comprises indicating the location the damage section of theroute 10121 or more other vehicles currently traveling on the route 101response to the damage section the route 101 being identified.

In one aspect, the method may include automatically slowing orautomatically stopping movement of the vehicle in response to thedamaged of the route 101 being identified.

In one aspect, the first velocity difference may be calculated by themethod from a data output from one or more tachometers disposed onboardthe vehicle and using circuitry disposed onboard the vehicle.

In one aspect, the method may include assigning a priority to thepotentially damaged section of the route 101 based on the magnitude ofthe wheel creep measured by the monitor device 110. Optionally, thepriority may be transmitted to an off-board system by the communicationdevice 140. Optionally, the vehicle system 100 may assign a prioritybased on measurements of the sensor 150 (e.g., accelerometer, opticalsensor, electrical probe, gyroscope, or the like).

In one example of the inventive subject matter, a system includes acreep monitoring device configured to determine a first velocitydifference between a moving speed of a vehicle traveling along a route101 and a first rotational speed of a first wheel of the vehicletraveling along the route 101.

In one example of the inventive subject matter, a method includesmonitoring wheel creeps for a plurality of wheels of a vehicle as thevehicle travels along a route 101. The method includes examining thewheel creeps to determine when the wheel creeps exceed a designated,non-zero threshold, and determining if the wheel creeps exceed thethreshold when the corresponding wheels traveled over a common locationalong the route 101. The method includes identifying a damaged sectionof the route 101 at the common location when the wheel creeps exceed thenon-zero threshold.

As used herein, the terms “module”, “system,” “device,” or “unit,” mayinclude a hardware and/or software system and circuitry that operates toperform one or more functions. For example, a module, unit, device, orsystem may include a computer processor, controller, or otherlogic-based device that performs operations based on instructions storedon a tangible and non-transitory computer readable storage medium, suchas a computer memory. Alternatively, a module, unit, device, or systemmay include a hard-wired device that performs operations based onhard-wired logic and circuitry of the device. The modules, units, orsystems shown in the attached figures may represent the hardware andcircuitry that operates based on software or hardwired instructions, thesoftware that directs hardware to perform the operations, or acombination thereof. The modules, systems, devices, or units can includeor represent hardware circuits or circuitry that include and/or areconnected with one or more processors, such as one or computermicroprocessors.

As used herein, the terms “software” and “firmware” are interchangeable,and include any computer program stored in memory for execution by acomputer, including RAM memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory,and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) memory. The above memory types areexemplary only, and are thus not limiting as to the types of memoryusable for storage of a computer program.

One or more of the operations described above in connection with themethods may be performed using one or more processors. The differentdevices in the systems described herein may represent one or moreprocessors, and two or more of these devices may include at least one ofthe same processors. In one embodiment, the operations described hereinmay represent actions performed when one or more processors (e.g., ofthe devices described herein) are hardwired to perform the methods orportions of the methods described herein, and/or when the processors(e.g., of the devices described herein) operate according to one or moresoftware programs that are written by one or more persons of ordinaryskill in the art to perform the operations described in connection withthe methods.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to beillustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-describedembodiments (and/or aspects thereof) may be used in combination witheach other. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt aparticular situation or material to the teachings of the inventivesubject matter without departing from its scope. While the dimensionsand types of materials described herein are intended to define theparameters of the inventive subject matter, they are by no meanslimiting and are exemplary embodiments. Many other embodiments will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the abovedescription. The scope of the inventive subject matter should,therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, alongwith the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Inthe appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used asthe plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and“wherein.” Moreover, in the following claims, the terms “first,”“second,” and “third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are notintended to impose numerical requirements on their objects. Further, thelimitations of the following claims are not written inmeans-plus-function format and are not intended to be interpreted basedon 35 U.S.C. §112(f), unless and until such claim limitations expresslyuse the phrase “means for” followed by a statement of function void offurther structure.

This written description uses examples to disclose several embodimentsof the inventive subject matter and also to enable a person of ordinaryskill in the art to practice the embodiments of the inventive subjectmatter, including making and using any devices or systems and performingany incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the inventive subjectmatter is defined by the claims, and may include other examples thatoccur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Such other examples areintended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structuralelements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, orif they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantialdifferences from the literal languages of the claims.

The foregoing description of certain embodiments of the inventivesubject matter will be better understood when read in conjunction withthe appended drawings. To the extent that the figures illustratediagrams of the functional blocks of various embodiments, the functionalblocks are not necessarily indicative of the division between hardwarecircuitry. Thus, for example, one or more of the functional blocks (forexample, processors or memories) may be implemented in a single piece ofhardware (for example, a general purpose signal processor,microcontroller, random access memory, hard disk, and the like).Similarly, the programs may be stand-alone programs, may be incorporatedas subroutines in an operating system, may be functions in an installedsoftware package, and the like. The various embodiments are not limitedto the arrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings.

As used herein, an element or step recited in the singular and proceededwith the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding pluralof said elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated.Furthermore, references to “one embodiment” of the inventive subjectmatter are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence ofadditional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features.Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, embodiments“comprising,” “including,” or “having” an element or a plurality ofelements having a particular property may include additional suchelements not having that property.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: determining, using oneor more processors configured to receive data from an angular speeddevice and a speed meter, a first velocity difference between a movingspeed of a vehicle traveling along a route and a first rotational speedof a first wheel of the vehicle traveling along the route; andidentifying, using the one or more processors, a damaged section of theroute based at least in part on the first velocity difference of thefirst wheel.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining,using the one or more processors, at least a second velocity differencebetween the moving speed of the vehicle and at least a second rotationalspeed of at least a second wheel of the vehicle, wherein the damagedsection of the route is identified based at least in part on the firstvelocity difference and the at least a second velocity difference. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein the damaged section is identified bycorrelating times of when each of the first velocity difference and theat least a second velocity difference occurs with the moving speed ofthe vehicle.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the vehicle comprises arail vehicle having a first traction motor that rotates the first wheeland at least a second traction motor that rotates the at least a secondwheel.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, usingthe one or more processors, at least a second velocity differencebetween the moving speed of the vehicle and at least a second rotationalspeed of at least a second wheel of the vehicle when the damaged sectionof the route is identified.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thedamaged section of the route is identified responsive to the firstvelocity difference exceeding a designated, non-zero threshold.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first velocity difference is onlydetermined when an acceleration of the vehicle is less than adesignated, non-zero acceleration threshold.
 8. The method of claim 1,further comprising verifying, using the one or more processors,identification of the damaged section of the route using data other thanthe first velocity difference.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein theidentification of the damaged section of the route is verified by atleast one of monitoring vertical displacement of the vehicle, an opticalmonitoring system disposed onboard the vehicle, injecting an electricsignal into the route at a first location along the vehicle on one sideof the damaged section and measuring one or more electricalcharacteristics of the route at a second location along the vehicle onan opposite side of the damaged section, or acoustically detecting oneor more residual sounds using an acoustic pickup device disposed onboardthe vehicle.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising, using theone or more processors, determining a location of the damaged section ofthe route and reporting a location of the damaged section to anoff-board location.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the off-boardlocation comprises a dispatch facility, and reporting the location ofthe damaged section comprises instructions to the dispatch facility toat least one of: schedule inspection of the damaged section of theroute; schedule repair of the damaged section of the route; modify aschedule of one or more other vehicles; or notify the one or more othervehicles of the damaged section of the route.
 12. The method of claim10, wherein reporting the location comprises communicating the locationof the damaged section of the route to one or more other vehiclesconcurrently traveling on the route responsive to the damaged section ofthe route being identified.
 13. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising at least one of automatically slowing or automaticallystopping movement of the vehicle responsive to the damaged section ofthe route being identified.
 14. A system comprising: a creep monitoringdevice having one or more processors, wherein the creep monitoringdevice is configured to determine a first velocity difference between amoving speed of a vehicle traveling along a route and a first rotationalspeed of a first wheel of the vehicle traveling along the route; and aroute inspection device having one or more processors, wherein the routeinspection device is configured to identify a damaged section of theroute based at least in part on the first velocity difference of thefirst wheel.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the creep monitoringdevice is configured to determine at least a second velocity differencebetween the moving speed of the vehicle traveling along the route and atleast a second rotational speed of at least a second wheel of thevehicle, and wherein the route inspection device is configured toidentify the damaged section of the route based at least in part on thefirst velocity difference and the at least a second velocity difference.16. The system of claim 14, wherein the route inspection device isconfigured to identify the damaged section of the route by at least oneof compare a designated non-zero threshold with the first velocitydifference, or when an acceleration of the vehicle is less than adesignated, non-zero acceleration threshold.
 17. The system of claim 14,wherein the route inspection device is configured to report a locationof the damaged section to an off-board location.
 18. The system of claim14, wherein the off-board location is a dispatch facility, wherein thereporting the location of the damaged section includes instructions tothe dispatch facility to at least one of: schedule inspection of thedamaged section of the route; schedule repair of the damaged section ofthe route; modify a schedule of one or more other vehicles; or notifythe one or more other vehicles of the damaged section of the route. 19.The system of claim 18, wherein the off-board location is one or moreother vehicles concurrently traveling on the route.
 20. The system ofclaim 18 further comprising a control system at the off-board location,wherein the control system comprises a communication unit configured toreceive from the vehicle the location of the damaged section that isidentified and a control unit operably connected to the communicationunit, the control unit is configured to control the communication unitto communicate control signals for controlling at least one of thevehicle or one or more other vehicles based at least in part on thelocation of the damaged section received from the vehicle.
 21. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein the route inspection device is configured tocontrol at least one of automatically slowing or automatically stoppingmovement of the vehicle after identifying the damaged section of theroute.
 22. A method comprising: monitoring via data from an angularspeed device and a speed meter wheel creeps for a plurality of wheels ofa vehicle as the vehicle travels along a route; examining the wheelcreeps to determine when the wheel creeps exceed a designated, non-zerothreshold; determining if the wheel creeps exceed the non-zero thresholdwhen the corresponding wheels traveled over a common location along theroute; and identifying a damaged section of the route at the commonlocation when the wheel creeps exceed the non-zero threshold.